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Saturn's seething atmosphere revealed

A MYSTERIOUS “string of pearls” has been spotted in Saturn’s atmosphere by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. These and other features indicate that the ringed planet’s atmosphere is much more active than expected.

Saturn was thought to be placid compared to tempestuous Jupiter, but Cassini’s infrared images, cutting through the planet’s high-altitude haze, have revealed that it is seething with activity lower down.

The string of pearls formation is made of alternating bright and dark patches, something never seen before. “This is not a boring planet any more,” says Kevin Baines of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “Now the dynamicists …